JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  December  19,  1901. 
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Evergreen  Ferns. 
It  is  at  this  season  the  beauty  of  the  evergreen  Ferns  is  best 
appreciated.  Not  a  particle  of  green  gives  way  to  an  autumn  or 
winter  shade,  and  the  fronds  remain  fresh  and  bright  through  all  the 
snows  of  winter.  I  have  frequently  enjoyed  the  Christmas  Fern, 
says  a  writer  in  “  Meehans’  Monthly,”  Aspidium  acrosticlioides,  under 
such  conditions.  It  is  plentiful  along  the  roc-ky  banks  of  the 
Wissahic-kon  Creek,  Fairmount  Park,  Philadelphia.  Aspidium 
marginale  is  a  good  evergreen,  but  the  green  colour  is  not  so  shining. 
Notes  from  the  “Eden”  Garden  in  Venice. 
Mr.  Lee  Bacon,  through  the  “  Century  Magazine,”  furnishes 
notes  on  Venice  gardens,  and  of  the  Eden  Garden  he  says:  — 
“  Where  the  Roses  bloom  in  greatest  profusion  is  the  Eden 
Garden,  on  the  far  side  of  the  Giudecca,  stretching  away  in  the 
direction  of  the  salt  marshes,  which  give  out  such  strange  sea¬ 
weed  odours.  The  English  gardener  who  speaks  with  a  bur  and 
an  Italian  accent  at  the  same  time,  told  me  the  property  once 
belonged  to  a  convent.  Here  the  late  Empress  of  Austria  was 
wont  to  sketch,  and  here  the  Italian  actress  Duse,  fortunate  in 
being  a  welcome  guest,  spends  many  mornings  wandering  up 
and  down  its  shady  walks.  One  is  rarely  near  enough  to  see 
whether  it  be  Alfred  de  Musset,  Dante,  or  one  of  the  English 
authors  she  has  in  hand ;  for,  as  one  advances  within  sight  and 
sound  the  slight  figure  is  apt  to  lose  itself  in  the  cross  paths, 
though  when  Henry  Bacon  was  painting  his  picture  of  the  Virgin 
among  the  Lilies  he  was  often  aware  of  the  shadow  of  the  noted 
Italian  falling  almost  on  his  canvas.  These  paths  are  overhung 
with  Grape-vines  trained  upon  trellises,  with  here  and  there 
great  Acanthus  plants,  with  the  wonderful  foliated  leaves  which 
seem  to  have  been  the  inspiration  and  base  of  four-fifths  of  the 
world’s  decorative  designs  and  carvings.  Farther  along, 
hundreds  of  Lily  plants  raise  their  straight  stiff  stalks,  and  at  a 
oertain  time  are  covered  with  so  many  blooms  that  one  is  fairly 
driven  from  them  by  the  heavy  perfume.” 
Cornus  Mas. 
Winter  is  now  with  us,  and  the  last  flowers  of  the  season 
have  disappeared  on  outside  trees  and  shrubs.  With  the  dis¬ 
appearance  of  all  flowers  there  soon  comes  a  longing  for  those 
of  spring,  and  to  many  it  will  be  a  pleasure  to  know  which  is 
the  first  they  may  look  for.  It  is  safe  to  say  but  few  are  as  early 
in  flower  as  the  Cornus  Mas,  or  Cornelian  Cherry,  as  it  used 
to  be  called.  One  or  two  other  shrubs  run  it  a  pretty  close  race, 
the  Daphne  Mezereum,  Lonicera  fragrantissima,  Witch  Hazel, 
and  Garrya  elliptica,  for  instance,  but  usually  the  Cornus  leads. 
The  flowers  of  this  shrub  are  quite  small,  yellow  in  colour,  and, 
individually,  are  not  striking;  but  they  are  produced  numerously 
along  the  naked  branches  of  the  previous  season,  in  advance  of 
the  leaves,  so  that  the  whole  shrub  presents  a  mass  of  yellow. 
It  is  not  as  striking  in  appearance  as  the  Golden  Bell,  but  it  is 
the  first,  and  for  this  reason  it  cannot  be  compared  with  later 
rivals.  An  interesting  fact  in  connection  with  it  is  that,  towards 
the  close  of  winter  little  shoots  of  it  cut  off  and  placed  in  water, 
indoors,  open  as  nicely  as  if  on  the  tree.  Florists  have  made  use 
of  this  fact  to  force  the  blossoms  ahead  of  the  season,  as  is  some¬ 
times  done  in  the  case  of  Golden  Bell.  Because  of  its  early 
flowering,  the  place  for  a  specimen  of  Cornus  Mas  would  be  not 
too  far  from  the  house,  even  if  within  sight  of  it,  as  everyone 
knows  the  cheering  inspiration  a  peep  at  awakening  Nature 
gives  in  early  spring  to  those  who,  perhaps,  are  unable  to  go 
outdoors  to  see  it.  Referring  to  this  being  the  first  shrub  to 
flower  leads  one  to  say  that  season  has  very  much  to  do  with 
deciding  which  shall  be  first.  Some  peculiarity  will  advance 
some  and  retard  others,  and  the  one  first  this  year  may  be  in 
the  second  or  third  place  next.  There  are  certain  conditions 
determining  these  things  which  are  past  discerning  by  those  who 
do  not  make  a  special  study  of  the  subject. 
Scale  on  Palms. 
It  is  not  advisable  to  delay  cleaning  scales  from  Palms.  They  are 
insignificant  looking  creatures,  and  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  be  unmindful 
of  the  damage  to  a  plant  they  can  do  in  a  small  space  of  time.  The 
nature  of  a  scale  is  not  known  to  everyone.  It  is  an  insect  covered  by 
a  scale  protection,  and  it  feeds  on  the  juices  of  the  plant  to  which  it 
attaches.  As  its  work  continues,  the  vitality  of  the  plant  is  quickly 
sapped  before  one  is  well  aware  of  it.  The  increase  of  these  insects 
is  enormous,  each  female  producing  hundreds  and  thousands  in  a  year. 
Therefore,  be  watchful  and  prompt  in  checking  its  progress.  It  is 
much  better,  says  <k  Meehans’  Monthly,”  to  spend  a  few  hours  cleaning 
away  a  few  scales  from  a  healthy  plant  every  few  days  than  to  spend 
a  whole  day  on  a  sickly  plant  once  a  month. 
Forest  Fires. 
“  To  Prevent  Forest  Fires  ”  is  the  title  of  two  consecutive  articles 
in  a  leading  American  forestry  journal.  The  first  one  shows  that  it  is 
impossible  to  prevent  forest  fh'es  so  long  as  large  masses  of  dried 
underbrush  are  permitted  to  exist.  Forest  fires  would  be  impossible 
if  arrangements  were  made  to  keep  Avoods  clear  of  this  inflammable 
mattei'.  The  next  author  tells  Iioav  to  prevent  forest  fires  by  insisting 
that  all  this  amount  of  dead  matter  must  be  permitted  to  remain  in 
order  to  be  the  receiver  and  retainer  of  the  Avater  that  feeds  the 
springs.  But  he  fails  to  tell  what  becomes  of  this  “  receiver  and 
retainer  ”  when  the  forest  fire  has  burned  it  out.  This  argument  is 
in  continual  use,  but  it  seems  strange  to  have  the  contention  that  the 
best  Avay  to  prevent  a  forest  fire  is  to  eneourage  everything  that 
favours  it. 
Ilex  verticillata. 
The  deciduous  Hollies  are  rarely  cultivated  in  this  country  outside 
botanical  establishments,  though  they  are  quite  worthy  a  place  in  the 
shrubbery  Avhere  bright  coloured  fruits  during  the  latter  months  of 
the  year  are  appreciated.  At  one  time  these  deciduous  Hollies  .were 
called  Prinos,  and  the  one  under  notice  is  still  known  in  some  places 
as  P.  A’erticillatus  or  l£e\Tigatus.  I.  verticillata  makes  a  bush  6  feet  or 
so  in  height,  with  a  similar  diameter,  and  has  ovate  leaves  which 
vary  in  size  from  2  or  3  inches  in  length  by  half  an  inch  in  AAudth  to 
almost  double  that  size.  The  fruit  of  the  type  is  about  the  size  of  a 
small  pea,  coral  red,  and  hangs  on  the  branches  for  a  considerable 
time  after  the  leaves  have  fallen.  In  addition  to  the  type  there  is  a 
form  with  yelloAv  berries  Avhicli  is  also  a  desirable  plant.  Regarding 
soil,  it  is  not  fastidious,  anything  of  a  loamy  nature  appearing  to  suit 
it.  Its  native  country  is  North  America,  and  there  it  is  often  spoken 
of  as  the  “  Winter  Berry.” — W.  D.,  IveAv. 
English  Walnuts. 
That  the  English  Walnut  does  very  Avell  in  Connecticut, 
America,  at  least,  seems  not  well  known.  Last  spring  a  friend 
came  to  me,  writes  Mr.  Meehan,  to  know  if  he  could  plant  a 
tree  of  it  with  any  chance  of  its  proving  hardy.  I  took  him  to 
one  in  sight  of  where  we  stood,  a  large  tree  40ft  high,  and  with 
a  spread  of  as  many  feet,  and  which  had  then  a  large  crop  of 
nuts  on  it  just  forming.  His  attention  was  called  to  this  tree 
being  but  one  of  a  dozen  within  a  radius  of  a  mile,  all  very  large 
specimens.  The  man  was  really  astonished,  as  he  had  been 
informed  that  the  tree  was  not  hardy  in  the  vicinity.  Nursery¬ 
men  usually  rely  on  nuts  from  Europe  for  the  raising  of  seedlings, 
keeping  the  nuts  in  slightly  damp  sand  all  winter,  and  sowing 
them  in  spring.  The  seedlings  from  these  imported  nuts  often 
lose  their  tops  when  quite  small ;  hut,  in  common  with  some 
other  trees  not  over-hardy,  this  freezing  back  does  not  occur 
after  a  few  years  have  passed.  The  nurserymen  may  also  obtain 
trees  from  England.  The  Norway  Maple  is  apt  to  behave  in 
a  similar  way,  and  nurserymen  find  that  both  the  seedlings  of 
this  and  the  Walnut  make  straighter  plants  if  undisturbed  in 
the  seed  beds  until  they  are  from  4ft  to  6ft  in  height.  To  have 
a  hardier  race  of  this  Walnut,  seeds  should  be  secured  from  these 
home-growing  trees.  I  think  there  is  no  question  that  the 
seedlings  from  them  would  be  hardier  than  those  from  Italian 
or  French  seeds.  It  is  not  generally  known  that  they  are  having 
trouble  with  their  Walnut  trees  in  California,  a  disease  called 
bacteriosis  attacking  the  twigs  and  fruit.  It  appears  in  black, 
sunken  spots  on  the  hulls  of  the  "Walnuts,  spreads,  and  reduces 
the  whole  to  a  black  rotten  mass.  It  is  causing  serious  trouble 
to  the  Walnut  growers  of  the  State ;  whole  orchards  are  suffering, 
and  have  to  be  sprayed  Arifh  Bordeaux  mixture. 
